Karachi University has taken action against an assistant professor from the Urdu department following a complaint of harassment by a female student.
The university’s administration, based on a recommendation from the Harassment Committee and approval from the Vice-Chancellor, has suspended the professor under the “University of Karachi Employees (Efficiency and Discipline)” rules. The suspension will last until the Protection Committee against Harassment reaches a new decision, during which time the professor is prohibited from contacting the complaining student.
Recent reports indicate that the decision to suspend the teacher was influenced by evidence presented by security agencies. Allegations brought forward by the affected student and her family led to a formal complaint to the security agencies, detailing a series of inappropriate messages and even an attempt by the teacher to harass the student at her residence. Consequently, the security agency prompted an investigation by the University of Karachi administration.
Interestingly, this teacher had faced similar complaints in the past, which resulted in his suspension and an inquiry during a former vice-chancellor’s tenure. At that time, the inquiry committee recommended reassigning the teacher to non-teaching duties as a punitive measure. However, political influence within the syndicate led to the teacher’s reinstatement.
Furthermore, the concerned teacher had faced course withdrawals due to previous complaints. This incident echoes a situation from a few years ago when a teacher within the same faculty faced harassment allegations, prompting an inquiry by the Harassment Committee, though the outcome of this inquiry wasn’t submitted to the syndicate.
